The Daily Monitoring Report – Wednesday – 18-07-2012

July 18^th, 2012

- Yesterday, 90 people were martyred by the Assad forces’ gunfire in Damascus and its countryside, Aleppo, and Homs. Fierce battles are currently raging in the heart of Damascus between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Assad troops.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Field Mobility

- A general strike is staged in the markets of the Damascus neighborhoods of Al-Shaghour, Rukun Al-Din, Al-Hamidiya, as well as Electricity market and Midhat Pasha.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- A number of demonstrations were organized in several Damascus districts. Protesters chanted slogans in solidarity with the neighborhoods of Nahr Aisha and Al-Maidan. They also called for an end to the military campaign, and allowing the UN observers access to the two neighborhoods.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Political Mobility

- The Muslim Brotherhood group in Syria calls on the Syrians to support the battle of Damascus, which the group described as “historic moment” and an “Armageddon.”⁽¹⁾⁽⁴⁾

- Representatives for the Syrian National Council (SNC) met on Tuesday in New York separately with the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations and representatives of the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council.⁽²⁾

- The Syrian National Council (SNC) warns that it intends to search for “other solutions” in collaboration with regional and international friends to protect civilians if the UN Security Council did not adopt a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announces the number of Syrian refugees, who fled Syria to other countries, reached 112,000.⁽⁵⁾

Internal Situation

- Syrian colonel Pilot Ziad Talas defected from the Assad’s regime and arrived in Jordan. In addition, other officers defected from the Syrian regime and headed for Turkey and Egypt.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- The most senior Syrian politician to defect to the opposition has warned that the regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is cornered. Nawaf Fares, ex-ambassador to Iraq who had defected from the Assad regime, said unconfirmed reports indicated such weapons might have already been used. “There is information, unconfirmed information of course, that chemical weapons have been used partially in the city of Homs,” he said. In addition, he added that the previous explosions were caused by the regime in cooperation with al-Qaeda, as he put it.⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾

- Lieutenant Colonel Nidal Hassan, an officer with the criminal investigation branch in Damascus Suburbs, announced that he had defected from the Assad regime and arrived in Cairo. He also added that he had left Syria 20 days ago. Moreover, he said that he had dissented from the Assad troops due to massacres and suppression acts committed against the Syrian people.⁽²⁾

- Damascus’ inhabitants arecurrently preparing their luggage with the aim of escaping from the city at any time in case clashes erupted.⁽⁵⁾

Political Stances

Syria

-  Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi claimed that the Assad security forces confronted fighters previously infiltrated into Damascus and forces most of them to flee.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Arab

- Iraq called on Tuesday on its citizens living in Syria to return home because of escalating violence in its neighbor. The Iraqi cabinet voiced concern about the “increasing incidents of murder and assault on Iraqis living in Syria,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. “The Iraqi government calls on them to come home,” the statement said, adding that Iraqi authorities would secure all means for their return from Syria. He also called on “parties of conflict” in Syria not to do harm to the Iraqis living in Syria.^{(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)}

- Jordan’s foreign minister Nasser Gouda said that Jordan has taken protective measures to confront any possible chemical attack on the part of the Assad regime.⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

International

- Vote, on the two resolutions of Britain and China, has been delayed till today.⁽⁷⁾

- In his word before the Knesset’s Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, Israeli Military Intelligence head Aviv Kochavi said that Al-Assad would be definitely overthrown between “two months and two years”.⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

- It is expected that the UN Security Council would witness today (Wednesday) a vote on a resolution tabled by the Europeans (France, German, Britain and Portugal) and the USA. Such a resolution called for imposing further sanctions against the Assad regime under Chapter VII of the U.N. charter. On the other hand, Russia threatened to use veto against that resolution again.⁽²⁾

- The U.S. State Department voiced concern that escalating violence in Syria could spill over in the region. “We all fear the worst-case scenario: this devolving into a conflict that spills widely across the borders that is even further sectarian carnage,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.⁽²⁾

- The White House warned the Syrian regime on Tuesday it will be held accountable for the safe handling and storage of any chemical weapons it possesses.^(1)(2)(3)

- British Foreign Secretary William Hague described what is happening in Syria as being “terrible”, asserting that all options are on the cards with regard to the Syrian crisis. This came after his visit to a Syrian refugees’ camp in Jordan.^(1)(2)(4)

- “I see no reason why we cannot also agree at the UN Security Council. We are ready for this,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.^{(1)(2)(4)(6)(7)}

Sources

1	Asharq Al-Awsat
2	Aljazeera net
3	Reuters
4	AFP
5	AP
6	Guardian
7	Telegraph